desktop dac/amp for headphone and speakers on the cheap....

[cosmic]

Good evening,
My first post here. Found you guys on my research travels and have read a lot of info here, super cool work from amirm.

So, i'm looking to purchase something to get away from my desktop motherboard sound. Inexpensive dac/amp around £100 / $130.

Something that has low headphone output impedance as i'm using 32ohm, and 16ohm headphones, and some IEM. Also would like to output to some active speakers sat on my desk.

I was all set on the fulla 2, as this seems to have the features I need, but kinda put off by the review from amirm. Then I looked at the fiio e10k but for some reason it outputs both speakers and headphones simultaneously. Kinda annoying having to turn on/off the active speakers etc. - Maybe at my price range this is still the best option. But then after some more scouting on the forum I had the idea of a portable unit such as a topping NX4, or fiio q1 mark ii, but then they don't have the speaker requirement as far as I can see.
The smsl ad18 or sabaj A4 looked very promising but both has a high headphone impedance (10ohm), I am under the impression it should be 8 times lower than ohms of headphones used..

Anything else I should be looking at guys?

Many thanks

 

[maverickronin]

Given the price constraints, you may just want to go with the Full 2 since it wins on features, if not performance.

You could also put a switch box or something behind the e10k and use that that to cut the signal to your speakers.

 

[cosmic]

many thanks for the response. that is a good idea with the switch box. but after careful considering i think i'll just save for another month or so and buy a separate dac and headphone amp such as topping d10 and modi 3.

i only have low impedance headphones currently and high sensitivity such as shp9500, so they don't require much power, but are susceptible to the imbalance of the fulla 2 at low volume. (just been messaging schiit to confirm this)

i mean i'm more than happy with the volume my pc audio can get to, its just not clean I know a dac will sort that but it seems i need an amp at the same time...